The Snake and Eagle
by Wolfmilk
Summary: ABANDONED! An unlikely friendship with a Ravenclaw student dramatically changes Severus Snape's childhood. Set in the Marauder Era.
1. Chapter 1

**The Snake and Eagle**

**Summary: **An unlikely friendship with a Ravenclaw student dramatically changes Severus Snape's childhood. Set in the Marauder Era.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter

Severus Snape ran along the corridors towards Transfiguration. He was late and didn't want detention. In his haste, Severus crashed into his most hated enemy, James Potter. He had been accompanied by his friends, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.

The impact almost knocked James over. Eyes narrowing, he cried out "Oppugno!" and directed his wand at Severus. The latter was ready to cast a defensive spell when another voice was heard.

"Protego," the word uttered was no more than a whisper but the shield charm cast was nevertheless effective. A large invisible wall had been cast and James' spell had rebounded harmlessly. All eyes were directed towards a Ravenclaw girl who had been sprinting silently towards her class. It was clear that she had been the caster as there was nobody else around. But she did not stop and explain her actions but continued to run towards her class not glancing back.

Severus would had stayed there staring after her in shock for a while if he had not remembered that he was late to class and started running towards his own class ignoring the Potter gang who had been too shocked to say anything.

Severus arrived panting in front of the entire class who had been seated. Professor McGonagall glared at the Slytherin. "You're late to class, Snape," she spoke sternly. I'm...sorry...Got...caught...up," panted Severus with embarrassment. His thoughts were still on the mysterious girl who had cast the shield charm. "Well don't just stand there all day, find seat and take out your books," ordered McGonagall.

Severus headed to find an empty desk near his Death Eater friends. Unfortunately, all was occupied. His Slytherin mates smiled apologetically as Severus was forced to sit at a shared table next to a Ravenclaw student. To his horror, he had to sit next to the girl he had seen earlier. She did not glance up at him and was too engrossed in what McGonagall had been saying.

"Today we shall be turning feathers into live birds." The students set to work. In no time at all, the classroom was filled with wand waving and incantations.

Severus wasn't interested in transfiguring his feather into anything yet. Severus was thinking about earlier. He was probably the most hated person in the year. He wasn't exactly popular with any of the houses except his own. Even Lily Evans, had deserted him. Why a Ravenclaw student should who he had never seen before cast a spell to protect him?

He came to the conclusion that the spell was probably meant to protect James from him. After all, James had plenty of admirers. Severus glanced around. Everybody was occupied with casting their spells. Seizing this opportunity, he attempted to start a conversation with the girl next to him. "Hello, I'm Severus Snape" The girl glanced at him halfway through waving her wand. She raised an eyebrow and quietly replied, "Hello." She didn't seem very eager to start a conversation. So Severus shrugged at started to work on transfiguring his feather.

蛇与鹰

An hour later, Severus found himself in the school library. He was carrying a stack of potions books. He was navigating his way around the library, dodging and avoiding the tall book-filled shelves. Unfortunately, a book was lying on the ground was just to Severus' luck he managed to trip over it and spill all the books he had been holding. The loud echo of the thud reverberated through the normally-silent library. The occupants of the library glared at him. "Sorry," he muttered, cursing himself for his clumsiness.

A hand reached out and grabbed the book on the floor which Severus had stumbled onto. The owner stood up and stared at Severus with piercing brown eyes. "No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have let that book lying around." It was the Ravenclaw Severus had seen earlier. He gasped and wondered if she was following him around or not. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the girl. "Hi Severus, my name is Cindy Grace."

Severus stared back at her and wondered yet again if she had cast the spell to protect James. It didn't seem likely as he hadn't even showed any noticeable signs to retaliating when James cast the spell.

"That was an impressive Shield Charm you made earlier."

The girl called Cindy blushed. Looking at her watch and she murmured, "sorry. I better get going. Herbology next." With that last comment she turned on her heel and hurried away. Frowning, Severus looked down and saw that she left her book in her haste to get to her next class. He picked up the book and saw that it was titled, "Animagus transformations."

Severus flipped it open and skimmed through the pages. There were instructions was demonstrations on how to become an animagus. He wondered how a student could become an Animagus at such a young age. He remembered the night when Sirius tricked him into going into the Shrieking Shack when Remus Lupin had been turned into a werewolf. That was when he learnt that James, Sirius and Peter were animagi. Severus had been jealous that his least liked enemies knew such advanced magic.

Severus pocketed the book, making a mental note to return it to Cindy as soon as possible. After all, she had been reading from it.

蛇与鹰

That night, Severus walked back to his Slytherin dormitories. He was greeted by Avery and Mulciber. They asked him if he could help them with their potions essay with Professor Slughorn had set them. Severus merely shook his head, declaring that he was too tired.

"Aww, c'mon Sev, you don't want your own friends to be in detention do you?" Personally, Severus couldn't care less. But they were his only friends after Lily Evans had left him. Sighing, Severus sat down beside them and started checking their essays.

**To be continued…**

**This is mostly likely a draft so I apologise for any mistakes which I have.**

**I've had it in my head for a while and decided to write it all down.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Snake and Eagle**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter

The next week, Severus found himself in a Charms lesson. The room was shared by Slytherin and Ravenclaw once again. He gazed across the room and sure enough, Cindy was there. Perhaps the light which shone lazily into the room had been playing tricks on his eyes because Cindy looked like she had hardly slept. There were bags under her eyes and her skin seemed paler than usual and tinged with a sickly grey. _Probably caught a cold or something_, Severus concluded.

Severus's thoughts then wondered to Lily Evans. He had always liked her. Even though she was a muggle-born, Lily had been his best and only friend for many years. She always had been there for him when James had bullied or teased him. But now she was gone, forever. He called her a mudblood out of annoyance and Lily never forgave him for that insult. Lily abandoned Severus and went off to James. Severus never understood why Lily had forgiven James for all the bullying he had done. But she had not forgiven him, Severus, for only one insult. Now Lily wouldn't even look at him.

Tears filled up Severus's eyes. To hide the embarrassment of crying, he quickly wiped his face on the sleeves of his green and black robes. He pretended to accidently perform the Charm, _Aguamenti_ onto his eyes. Just to his luck, a Ravenclaw boy glanced at him and was convinced that Severus had terrible aiming skills.

"Hey look everyone!" He shouted, pointing his stubby finger at Severus. "Severus shot water in his face." He turned towards Severus now that the class's attention was on him. "How did you mange that? Were you holding your wand backwards?" He jeered at Severus.

With fists clenched, he glared at the boy, angry and embarrassed that people saw him. A few quick flicks of his wand could wipe that smug expression off the boy's face. But Professor Flitwick glanced around to see what all the commotion was about. Shaking his head, he squeaked, "Wipe your face Severus, five points from Slytherin for disrupting the class." Anger flared in Severus's eyes. _Was it his fault that the wretched boy from Ravenclaw mocked him?_ It wasn't fair! Severus had done nothing wrong and yet Flitwick decided to blame _him_.

Silence fell in the classroom again except for a few mutterings of _Aguamenti_. Everyone went back to their individual work - all except for Cindy. She was staring at him with one eyebrow raised and her head slightly tilted to the side. He glared back at her. Frowning, she looked away and conjured a perfect fountain of clear water.

蛇与鹰

After Charms, Avery and Mulciber rushed to Severus as he was leaving. Their faces were full of glee and excitement. Severus frowned at their expressions. Before he could start to say anything, Mulciber spoke.

"Hey Sev, we're off to terrorize a Mudblood first-year. Wanna join us?" He piped up. Severus grinned. He needed to let out his frustration and anger on someone. He nodded and allowed Avery and Mulciber to lead the way. "Good on ya mate," Avery clapped onto Severus's back.

"So what did the first-year do?" Severus inquired. Mulciber uttered, "We overheard him telling to his Gryffindor friends about how stupid Slytherins are." Avery scowled and continued, "So we decided to teach them a lesson."

Severus grinned as he and his two best friends skidded to a stop in front of a weak-looking Gryffindor boy. "I've always hated Gryffindors," Avery muttered. The boy stared at the Slytherin trio and started to tremble from head to foot with fear. Severus and his friends stood in front of him blocking any means of escape. Mulciber spat out "What's your name?"

"T-t-tiberius McLaggen," the frightened boy stuttered. Avery snorted. Without warning, Mulciber lifted his black wand into that air and shouted, "_furnunculus_"! The spell bounced harmlessly off the wall as the boy named Tiberius ducked and tried to run away, leaping to the side only to be blocked by Severus who sneered at him. "L-l-let me out!" He cried. Severus glared down at the shivering child. "Not until, we've had our fun with you, _mudblood_," he sneered, putting an emphasis on the last word.

As Severus reached into his robes to draw out his own wand, footsteps were heard. Cursing, the trio dashed away. They didn't want to be caught or it would be another month of detention. They left the boy in a state of shock and fear.

蛇与鹰

That night, in the Slytherin common room, Avery, Mulciber and Severus recounted their story towards the other Slytherins. Evan Rosier and Wilkes howled with laughter when they heard Mulciber tell them about what the boy did.

"It serves the mudblood right," Evan declared and the others nodded in approval. "It was a shame that we had to leave him so early," Severus sighed. Seeing Wilkes raise an eyebrow, he added, "Someone was coming our way." Yawning, Avery announced, "Why don't we just call it a day. I've had enough fun." He smiled and headed towards the boy's dormitories leaving the others to follow his example.

Severus threw himself into his bed and lay there staring at the grey stone ceiling. Severus remembered terrorising the boy earlier and tried to recall how happy he was to see someone bullied who wasn't himself. Lily's voice echoed towards him, _what you did was _evil_, Severus_. Trying to turn his thoughts elsewhere, Severus turned to his side, trying to shake Lily's voice out of his head.

Severus gazed out the window, glancing at the almost-full moon. The full moon was coming out the following night. Remus Lupin was going to have a tough night tomorrow. Severus smiled. He knew it was painful to transform into a werewolf. But the smile vanished from his face as he remembered that Lily seemed genuinely shocked when she learned of Severus's suspensions about Remus's lycanthropy. Her words spoke in his head once more, _it isn't his fault that he is a werewolf. _He remembered seeing Remus's ill expression every time the days drew close to a full moon. Suddenly Severus sat upright on his bed, Cindy's ill appearance matched Remus's perfectly. Perhaps she was a werewolf too. But it didn't seem likely as he doubted that the headmaster, Dumbledore would allow _two_ werewolves to wander inside the castle. Severus shrugged and tried to push that to the back of mind, slowly drifting off to sleep.

**To be continued…**

**This is a draft so I apologise for any mistakes which I have made.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Snake and Eagle**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter

The next day was the usual routine. Before Severus knew it, the day was over and the night had fallen. That night, Severus was prepared to head towards the Gryffindor commons to confront Lily. But to his despair, Lily had gone back to her bed early. Agitated, Severus stood in front of the Gryffindor portrait.

"Out, OUT! NO password, NO entering!" yelled the Fat Lady. Out of annoyance, Severus took that moment to utter the word, _Langlock_. He watched the Fat Lady clutch her tongue to try and pry it from the roof of her mouth.

A Gryffindor girl came up from behind Severus. He whirled around to see if it was Lily but his face fell when he saw that it was Molly Wesley. Molly put her hands onto her hips and spoke to him in a very bossy manner, "what do you think you're doing here?" She waved her finger at Severus, "last time I checked, the Slytherin dormitories were that way," the red-haired girl waved to her right.

Molly pushed past him as the Fat Lady choked out, "Lasslerd?" Molly whispered the password not wanting Severus to hear it. The door opened and Severus caught a glimpse of red and gold before it swung shut again. Becoming irritated, Severus yelled out, "LILY! I'M GOING TO SLEEP RIGHT HERE UNTIL YOU COME OUT!" Surprisingly, the portrait swung open once more and Lily popped her head out of the circular hole, eyeing Severus with distaste. Severus flinched at the sight of her expression. Not bothering to hear about what Severus had to say, she spoke in a stern voice, "go away. I don't want you to be here."

With that last comment, the door swung closed. Severus shut his eyes and tried to see if Lily's words had a double meaning in them. His face fell as he knew that Lily had had her final word. She had meant what she said. Slumping down the stairs, Severus dragged himself away from the portrait, ignoring the glares from the Fat Lady. If that was all Lily had to say, then all hope was lost. She truly did hate him.

As he dejectedly shuffled along the corridors, Severus caught and glimpse of blue and bronze. As he decided that he was imagining things, he heard a stumble of footsteps. Under normal circumstances, Severus wouldn't have cared but he was so full of grief after his confrontment of an angry Lily that he desperately wanted to distract himself. Without a second thought, Severus trailed after the sound. _Why would someone be out of bed at this time of the night? _He wondered. Severus quickened his pace and sprinted towards the student.

Severus caught up and to his surprise, it was Cindy. He didn't want to draw attention to himself so he fell into a step behind her. Well she certainly wasn't a werewolf Severus thought. Judging by her limp, Cindy _did _seem to be sick. Severus followed her and she didn't even seem to notice him. As Cindy took a turn to the left, Severus wondered where she was going.

Cindy came to a stop a front of the big gates which lead outside Hogwarts. Severus heard the whisper of _alohomora_, the lock click. He was quite astonished at how low the security of Hogwarts was. Shrugging, he continued after Cindy as she walked outside of the building.

After what seemed like a long time, he finally saw where Cindy had been heading. The Shrieking Shack. Howls came from within and Severus shivered at the thought of a transformed werewolf Remus. Deciding that Cindy had pushed the limit, he put a hand on her shoulder.

Cindy whirled around in surprise and Severus gasped, taking a step back. She looked _wolfish_. Although she still was a human, Severus noticed that her ears were slightly pointed than usual and her teeth were a tad bit canine. When she looked at Severus, he saw that her eyes were slightly slitted like wolf. A low harsh growl came threateningly from her throat. But another howl came from the Shrieking Shack and Cindy jerked away and continued to head towards the place. Thinking back, Severus should have run as far away as he could but the idea didn't occur to him.

Severus could see the swaying branches of the Whomping Willow and hesitated before making a stick hover to prod a certain spot in the willow. Instantly the tree immobilised. Cindy was already dangerously close to the Whomping Willow and started to make her way towards the Shack. Without wavering, Severus took out his wand and shouted "_levicorpus_!"

Cindy shot into the air dangling from invisible cords. She glared at him heatedly. "Are you crazy? There's a werewolf down there!" Severus shouted at her.

His voice seemed to bring her to her senses. Cindy blinked and whispered, "Severus?" Her angry expression and faded into a more confused one. She mumbled, "Sorry." Severus stared back at her, more bewildered than he had ever been. Cindy murmured, "I think...that I'm fine now. I'm not going to go down there." Wearing an extremely puzzled expression, Severus let her down. She fell down with a crash at the willow's tree roots.

Brushing herself, Cindy stood up. "I'm sorry Severus. I was...attracted werewolf calls." Noticing Severus's even more confused expression she continued, "I'm slightly infected with lycanthropy." Cindy walked towards Severus who was _still_ baffled. "Sit down. I have a long explanation."

**To be continued…**

**This is mostly likely a draft so I apologise for any mistakes which I have made.**

**Next Chapter: **A very long conversation between Severus and Cindy with a lot of dialogue.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Snake and Eagle**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter

Severus cleared his throat and awkwardly squatted down beside the rough tree bark of the Whomping Willow while Cindy did the same.

"My father was a werewolf. He passed his lycanthropy infection to me. I was lucky to not be fully afflicted with lycanthropy. Every full moon, I only have a few symptoms." She looked down at her feet, "that was what happened. The temptation of meeting another werewolf was so intense. But I normally can cope with it." Cindy closed her eyes. "Thanks for saving me, by the way," she concluded.

Severus gaped at her. "That's..." He struggled to say something. "...Unusual," Cindy finished. "Yeah. But why did you tell me?" Severus blurted out. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I assumed that you would have wanted to know after following me all the way here." Severus blushed. He didn't know how to feel after witnessing all these events.

The silence between the two was interrupted by yet another howl from the Shrieking Shack. "It's Remus who is the werewolf." Severus said.

"You don't like him, do you?" Cindy questioned him. "No, not any of his friends either. Potter and his brats." Severus muttered. "Why did you cast that Shield Charm? To protect me?" Now it was Cindy's turn to blush. "I honestly don't know. It's not like I had ever been on good terms with either you or James." Severus struggled to say something back. After another moment of silence, he said, "you dropped your book earlier, your Animagus book." Cindy raised another eyebrow, "you...you don't suspect anything do you?"

"What do you mean?...Are you practising how to become an animagus?" Severus exclaimed.

Cindy smiled, "no, I'm already one." Severus was stunned. "But, it's really advanced magic!" "James' gang are already animagi, so why can't I?" Severus looked away from her. In truth, he was jealous. Severus himself was considered quite talented for his age but there were four people in his year which knew something which he did not.

Cindy broke him out of his thoughts, "Don't tell anyone though." "I wasn't planning to," Severus remarked coldly. "But why do you trust me, of all people?" Cindy's answer took him completely by surprise once more. "Considering that you're really secretive, I don't mind. I've never told anyone about this before."

There was another long silence where both students were engrossed in their own thoughts. Severus must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, as he fluttered his eyes open, was that there was a faint glow of the sun at the horizon. Cindy was unconsciously leaning to him in her sleep. Nobody had ever been that close to him before. Severus brushed her away roughly but regretted almost immediately. Cindy slid away and her head knocked against the tree roots, waking her up.

"Ow," she muttered, rubbing her head. Taking a glance at Severus, she yelped and spoke, "oh no! How long had we've been asleep? The professors would kill us if they saw us here!" Severus blinked, that thought hadn't occurred to him yet. Now that it did, Severus was panicking. They were still in their school robes and they had been wandering at night out of beds. Surely they would be in so much trouble.

As Severus jumped up, a shuffling sound came from behind him. It was James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. They stared at Severus who cursed loudly.

Sirius Black was the one to recover first from the shocked silence. "Well, what have we got here? A slimy git dating the Whomping Willow?" His friends howled with laughter. Only Remus did not laugh. He looked like death and was leaning on and supported by James and Peter.

Severus's hand instinctively drew towards his robes, reaching for his wand. But running towards them was Madam Pomfrey. One glance at the unlikely group and she ordered, "Mr Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, follow me to the Hospital Wing and as for you two..." She pointed at Severus and Cindy, "I think that Dumbledore might want to know _why you have been here where there has been a werewolf_!" Remus flinched at the term _werewolf_ and this didn't go unnoticed by the Mediwitch. Madam Pomfrey walked towards the Gryffindors and helped Remus get to the hospital wing. Quietly, Severus and Cindy followed her.

Dumbledore would understand why Severus felt the urge to go after Cindy that night. But the more Severus thought about it, the more Severus dreaded the confrontation of Dumbledore. He couldn't just march into Dumbledore's office and say, _I'm sorry for going near a dangerous werewolf last night because I was following a girl whom I have hardly ever talked to._

Time must have been playing tricks on him because the next thing Severus knew was that he was standing in front of Dumbledore's office. A gargoyle was blocking his path and Severus didn't know the password. Thankfully Dumbledore came up from behind him and said, "I was told I'd meet you two here." Severus glanced at Cindy, she seemed to be staring interestedly at Dumbledore's beard.

Completely oblivious to Cindy's stares, Dumbledore spoke, "I'd like to hear what you've got the say inside my office." Severus opened his mouth to say something but Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him. The old man mumbled, "_chocolate frogs_," and the gargoyle leapt aside. Cindy and Severus followed him into the office.

Once they were all seated, Dumbledore spoke, "let me assume that you both want to explain to me why you were sitting below the Whomping Willow last night." Severus and Cindy both recounted their own respective parts of what happened last night as Dumbledore listened intently. Severus left out the bit about Lily and Cindy excluded the part about animagi in her recount but other than that, what they said was entirely true.

Once they had finished, Dumbledore nodded his head thoughtfully and spoke in a soft voice to Cindy, "I knew that you were related to a werewolf." She blushed deeply obviously uncomfortable with the information which she a recently told Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't notice this but turned towards Severus. "I'm surprised that you have made a friend in less than a day - or should I say night," Dumbledore chuckled merrily while the pair sat in shocked silence.

Severus didn't think of Cindy as a friend. She was a Ravenclaw! But the more he thought about it the more his opinion changed about her. He'd never really had such a conversation with another student who wasn't from his own house before. Severus supposed he could call her a friend but decided to push that to the back of his mind. Apparently, Cindy was thinking on the same lines as him.

"I must ask you to keep this a secret. After all, you now know about your classmate, Remus's lycanthropy. _Do not mention this to anyone._ It is important that this is kept secret." Dumbledore began to ramble on about the importance of not tell anyone about the werewolf's condition. Severus rolled his eyes. He had already heard this lecture when Sirius Black had lured him towards Remus in his werewolf form. Cindy on the other hand, was on the edge of her seat, grasping onto every single word which came out of the old man's mouth.

After what seemed like an age, the pair was finally released from Dumbledore's office. To Severus, it seemed like a miracle that the headmaster hadn't taken away points or given detention. He felt tired after a sleepless night as he headed towards his first class. He braced himself for his friends who are going to bombard him with questions later.

**To be continued…**

**This is mostly likely a draft so I apologise for any mistakes which I have made.**

**Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Snake and Eagle**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter

**Um so sorry that I haven't been able to update for a while! I didn't think that there was much interest in this story since I hardly have any reviews. Anyway... enjoy.**

Severus sat at the Great Hall, eating his bacon and egg. He didn't have an appetite and pushed his food around his plate. "Hey Sev, where were you last night? Avery and I were worried sick. You didn't go to bed," Mulciber questioned him at breakfast.

Severus snorted. If they really did care about him then they would have informed a teacher of his absence. They probably wanted him to help with their homework. "I was sick and spent the night at the Hospital Wing," he lied

"Really? You don't look sick." Severus had to stifle another snort because Mulciber had the worst healing knowledge. As Severus stood up to leave the Great Hall, he was confronted by James, Sirius, Peter and Remus. Damn Potter and his friends, Severus thought.

"What do you want?" Severus asked coldly. James walked up to him. "I heard that you bullied a fellow Gryffindor who told Remus a few days ago. Unless you haven't noticed, Remus is a prefect and it is his job to discipline any rule-breakers."

Severus didn't want to waste any time on James' ramblings. Mulciber who had been at his side only moments before had miraculously disappeared. Severus tried to leave but Peter blocked his way. "What's the matter Snivellus? Trying to get away you coward?"

Anger flared in Severus' eyes. "Nobody calls me a coward," he spat. "Really? I believe that I just did." James wore a smug smile on his arrogant head. To Severus's left, he saw Cindy walk towards the group. "You filthy hypocrite, you're the coward. You won't be able to stand me unless it is four against one."

"I think that we'd all better get to class now." Cindy casually said. James flashed a smile which he reserved only for girls. "Hello, I don't think we've met before." That made Severus wanted to throw up. Cindy smiled back but her smile held no warmth. "I believe that you should be more observant next time. Like I was." She gave Remus a fleeting glance but James had got the message. Others would be wondering what she was talking about but James knew better. His smile had faded away completely.

Severus supposed that Cindy was talking about last night. Severus was quite surprised that James recognised Cindy from last night because James' head was usually full of rubbish. Muttering inaudible words, James led his gang away. Cindy smiled at Severus who went his potions class without another word.

Severus dragged his feet towards the dungeons and saw that the Slytherins were sharing a class with the Ravenclaws. Ravenclaws-funny how things keep popping up. Severus plopped himself against the nearest chair and almost fell off it when he saw that Cindy was right beside him. How did she get here so quickly? She raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.

Professor Slughorn strode into the classroom with his belly jigging. "welcome class! Today we will be brewing the Hair-Changing Potion. As its name suggests, consumption of this particular potion will cause the drinker to change their hair colour."

As the Potions Professor droned on about the properties of the potion, Severus felt Cindy nudge him and whisper, "you want to be an animagus, don't you?" "Um, why do you ask?" "I saw your expression when you talked about animagi." Severus frowned. "Yeah, it'd be nice to be an animagus," he answered, "but it's quite dangerous and you have to register with the Ministry of Magic." "As far as I know, there are four unregistered animagi running loose in Hogwarts," Cindy said coolly.

Severus sighed. It would be rather convenient to become a different animal. As independent as Severus may seem, he didn't welcome the idea of practising animagus transformation on his own. Cindy murmured, "I'll help you, I _am_ an animagus myself."

"Why? Why would you help a Slytherin who you hardly know? And why should I trust you?" A glint flashed in her eyes, "I owe you one." Severus sighed again. Opportunities like these don't occur very often.

"Okay."

蛇与鹰

"Remind me why I'm sitting in a girl's bathroom?" Severus asked as he sat cross-legged on the cold tile floor of second-floor girls' lavatory.

"I've told you a multiple times already. Nobody ever comes here because of Moaning Myrtle, a crazy ghost who haunts this bathroom." Cindy explained calmly. "Now, you wanted to learn how to be an animagus, so listen carefully. A patronus comes in the same form as your animagus form. So I want you to-"

"Produce a patronus?" Severus blurted helpfully.

Cindy nodded, so Severus waved his wand, thought of Lily Evans, and shouted, "Expecto Patronium!" A silver doe erupted from his wand and cantered around the bathroom, ramming Myrtle with its head, causing the ghost to fly out.

Severus turned back to Cindy, expecting her to continue telling him about becoming a doe. However, he met her shocked expression, her mouth hanging slightly ajar.

"Well?"

Cindy stared at Severus before shaking her head from side to side. "Sorry, you can't become an animagus."

"WHAT?"

"You will become an animal with the opposite gender. That's not possible. Unless, your patronus or animagus form changes, then you can't be an animagus. I'm sorry."

"B-b-but..." Severus stammered. "I thought that-maybe-perhaps-um-you-could-er..." He had trouble forming complete sentences.

Cindy started to pack up her books and leave but Severus seized the end of her robes. "Wait! Could you at least show me what your animagus is?"

The Ravenclaw sighed and sat back down again. She casted "Homenum Revelio" to see if there was any human presence. Slowly, she returned her gaze to meet Severus's hopeful black eyes. "If you insist..."

Severus watched Cindy start to change. It wasn't like the hideous transformation of a werewolf but more like a flower changing its shape and colour to meet the upcoming seasons. Brown feathers began to appear and grow on her skin. Her head elongated slightly and a beak formed. Her legs shorted and became scaly with clawed talons. Cindy was transforming into some sort of bird. An eagle.

The eagle leapt from the crumpled mess of clothes and soared into the air. It's wings spreading and the feathers extending. It was a massive bird, the wingspan was about seven feet long and it was about three feet tall. Severus observed in awe as the eagle made smooth even flaps and circled the bathroom before landing at the top of a bathroom sink. After gazing at Severus for a moment, it morphed back into Cindy, sitting on the bathroom sink.

"You're wearing clothes," was the only thing which Severus could think of saying but he instantly regretted it.

"Well duh, you idiot. They're enchanted."

**To be continued…**

**This is mostly likely a draft so I apologise for any mistakes which I have made.**

**I'm changing the rating to T just in case.**

**Please Review!**


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